Biz Buzz: Erie, PA Business Newshttp://blogs.goerie.com/biz-buzz
The latest news on the Erie, PA economy, local industry and area people engaged in the region's companies.Fri, 27 Feb 2015 20:20:18 +0000en-UShourly1http://blogs.goerie.com/?v=4.1.1Tooth Fairy leaves behind average of $3.40http://blogs.goerie.com/biz-buzz/2015/02/27/tooth-fairy-leaves-behind-average-of-3-40/
http://blogs.goerie.com/biz-buzz/2015/02/27/tooth-fairy-leaves-behind-average-of-3-40/#commentsFri, 27 Feb 2015 20:19:54 +0000http://blogs.goerie.com/biz-buzz/?p=2952When it comes to losing one’s teeth, it’s good to be an American.

At least if you’re at the stage of life when the Tooth Fairy is leaving a little something for your troubles.

In honor of National Tooth Fairy day — that’s Saturday if you haven’t consulted your calendar — Visa is out with its annual Tooth Fairy survey.

The survey found that American children received an average of $3.40 per lost tooth in 2014. That’s down 8 percent from 2012, but up nicely from 2011 when the Tooth Fairy was leaving an average of just $2.60 per tooth.

North of the border in Canada, tooth-challenged tots didn’t make out as well, collecting an average of just $2.60 per lost chopper.

The losing of teeth isn’t always so profitable.

The Visa survey of more than 3,000 respondents found that a full third of those surveyed said the Tooth Fairy left $1.

]]>http://blogs.goerie.com/biz-buzz/2015/02/27/tooth-fairy-leaves-behind-average-of-3-40/feed/0Want to fall in love? There’s an app for thathttp://blogs.goerie.com/biz-buzz/2015/02/13/want-to-fall-in-love-theres-an-app-for-that/
http://blogs.goerie.com/biz-buzz/2015/02/13/want-to-fall-in-love-theres-an-app-for-that/#commentsFri, 13 Feb 2015 19:03:40 +0000http://www.goerieblogs.com/biz-buzz/?p=2948What does it take to make two people fall in love?

Is it fate, chemistry, mutual interests or just a cosmic mix of pheromones and circumstance?

Psychologist Arthur Aaron had a different theory about 20 years and conducted a study to test the premise.

It was simple: Try staring into the eyes of another person while walking your way through a series of 36 personal questions one at a time. He concluded the combination of eye contact and letting down one’s guard was a recipe for falling in love, or at least creating an environment that might help that happen.

The study was the subject of a recent report by the New York Times.

And now, Anthony David Adams, a graduate of McDowell High School and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, has created an app that walks participants through the process.

Adams, who lives in New York City and identifies himself as an inventor, blogger and relationship coach, said, “I just felt like the world really needed something like this and couldn’t really do anything else until I finished it. The world is deeply in need of more connection and intimacy and not just friendships based on ‘Likes.’”

Folks in Erie will have a chance to try his app, called the Love Game, both tonight and Saturday at Molly Brannigans at 506 State St. The game will be played beginning at 4 p.m., said Mike O’Connor, the restaurant’s managing partner.

The app, which earned a Like from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, can be found at Playthelovegame.com

Adams doesn’t want to stop there. He’s launched a crowdfunding site to raise money to a card game version of the Love Game. That fundraising website can also be found at Playthelovegame.com.

]]>http://blogs.goerie.com/biz-buzz/2015/02/13/want-to-fall-in-love-theres-an-app-for-that/feed/0Erie ranks as one of America’s most romantic citieshttp://blogs.goerie.com/biz-buzz/2015/02/05/erie-ranks-as-one-of-americas-most-romantic-cities/
http://blogs.goerie.com/biz-buzz/2015/02/05/erie-ranks-as-one-of-americas-most-romantic-cities/#commentsThu, 05 Feb 2015 21:06:37 +0000http://www.goerieblogs.com/biz-buzz/?p=2945Apparently there’s at least one constant in Erie. We’re a pretty romantic bunch — at least if sales of Barry White music and romance novels are any indication.

For the third year in a row, Amazon has ranked Erie among the nation’s 20 most romantic cities.

In fact, Erie ranks 20th on the most recent list, which includes Knoxville, Tenn. in first place, Miami in second and Pittsburgh in 12th place.

No word from Amazon on whether folks in Erie are spending the bulk of their money on “Sleepless in Seattle,” bodice-ripper novels or on products they would rather their mom not know about.

The end result is the same. In the eyes of Amazon, for the third year in a row, Erie is a romantic place to be.

]]>http://blogs.goerie.com/biz-buzz/2015/02/05/erie-ranks-as-one-of-americas-most-romantic-cities/feed/0Clown convention coming to Eriehttp://blogs.goerie.com/biz-buzz/2015/01/30/clown-convention-coming-to-erie/
http://blogs.goerie.com/biz-buzz/2015/01/30/clown-convention-coming-to-erie/#commentsFri, 30 Jan 2015 19:34:42 +0000http://www.goerieblogs.com/biz-buzz/?p=2943Here’s an event that shouldn’t tax the parking capacity at the Ambassador Center — not when one considers the number of clowns who can squeeze into a car.

The Summit township center is scheduled to welcome an estimated 300 clowns to town April 21-26 for the Clowns of America International Convention.

The event will be hosted by Eriesistible Clowns.

Participants will attend classes and will perform and compete in the following categories: skits, costumes, face painting and balloon twisting.

]]>http://blogs.goerie.com/biz-buzz/2015/01/30/clown-convention-coming-to-erie/feed/0DevelopErie ‘checking its ego at the door’http://blogs.goerie.com/biz-buzz/2015/01/23/developerie-checking-its-ego-at-the-door/
http://blogs.goerie.com/biz-buzz/2015/01/23/developerie-checking-its-ego-at-the-door/#commentsFri, 23 Jan 2015 22:10:23 +0000http://www.goerieblogs.com/biz-buzz/?p=2934The leadership of DevelopErie joined in the applause at their annual dinner Thursday night to offer best wishes to John Elliott, the group’s former executive, who stepped down in October.

Individually, members of the group’s leadership team offered kind words for Elliott and his vision for development in Erie County.

But as they addressed a crowd of about 400, they continued to make clear that DevelopErie will be following a different game plan.

John Dill, the outgoing chairman of the Economic Development Corp., the DevelopErie affiliate responsible for staffing the organization, Mark Denlinger, the new chairman, and Katrina Smith, the new chief executive of DevelopErie, all made that point more than once Thursday night at the Bayfront Convention Center.

Without blaming Elliott by name, all three said the organization is moving in a different direction.

A year earlier at the DevelopErie dinner, Elliott had said the group would not walk away from its ambitious plans.

“We will not back down from adversity, we are not intimidated by complexity, we do not quit after redirection or delay, we will not be cowed by public meeting bullies, and we will not fear the aggressively ignorant who attack us or question our intentions,” he said in January 2014.

While DevelopErie had some big wins under Elliott’s leadership, including brokering a deal that led to Lord Corp. investing $100 million in Summit Township, Denlinger promised the organization will work better with other groups.

“DevelopErie may sometimes need to check its ego at the door,” he said. “We may need to make sure we play well together in the same sandbox.

For her part, Smith stressed a spirit of cooperation, collaboration and coordination.

Quoting an African proverb, she said: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

That’s according to the most recent edition of an annual study by the Milken Institute, which describes itself as an independent, nonpartisan economic think tank.

That ranking represents a long fall — the second largest of any city on the list — from 2013 when Erie ranked 96th. Only Peoria fell further, tumbling 102 spots from 55th to 157th on the list.

Cities were measured by job growth, wage growth, high-tech GDP growth, high-tech GDP concentration and the number of high-tech industries.

By those measurements, Erie landed just 12 spots above Detroit, which is in bankruptcy.

San Francisco, where the professional, scientific and technical services sector accounted for 45 percent of all jobs created over the past five years, ranked No. 1 on the list of top performing cities.

Nearby Youngstown, Ohio, ranked 199th on the list of best performing cities, just one spot ahead of last-place Atlantic City.

]]>http://blogs.goerie.com/biz-buzz/2015/01/14/eries-economic-performance-tumbles-according-to-study/feed/0Small business owners compete for free renthttp://blogs.goerie.com/biz-buzz/2015/01/12/small-business-owners-compete-for-free-rent/
http://blogs.goerie.com/biz-buzz/2015/01/12/small-business-owners-compete-for-free-rent/#commentsMon, 12 Jan 2015 16:23:21 +0000http://www.goerieblogs.com/biz-buzz/?p=2930The winner of a year’s free rent in Erie’s tallest office building will be announced Wednesday morning on the second floor of the Renaissance Centre, located at 1001 State St.

Tom Kennedy, the building’s owner, announced the contest in early December. Since then, representatives of more than 20 small companies have toured the facility and submitted short essays outlining how they would benefit from a downtown office location.

Kennedy said, “We believe the future of downtown Erie depends on a mix of large, established companies, like Erie Insurance, and small entrepreneurial companies.”

The winner, which will be chosen by a panel of outside judges, will be announced at 11 a.m. Wednesday in the Dramashop Theatre, inside the 14-story office building.

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed above 18,000 for the first time ever and has been trading above that mark all day.

It was the fifth straight day that U.S. stocks rose. The market was boosted today by news that the nation’s gross domestic product grew in the third quarter at the fastest pace in more than a decade.

Both the Dow and the S&P 500 are on track to finish the day at record levels.

As of 3:38 p.m., the Dow was trading at 18,041, while the S&P was at 2,084.

According to a Reuters report, the Dow has climbed more than 175 percent since hitting a 12-year low on March 9, 2009.

Growth in the country’s GDP has been revised to 5 percent, up from the 4.3 percent analysts had expected, according to wire reports.

]]>http://blogs.goerie.com/biz-buzz/2014/12/23/u-s-market-soars-to-record-levels/feed/0Erie Insurance estimates cost of insuring ‘Downton Abbey’http://blogs.goerie.com/biz-buzz/2014/12/22/erie-insurance-estimates-cost-of-insuring-downton-abbey/
http://blogs.goerie.com/biz-buzz/2014/12/22/erie-insurance-estimates-cost-of-insuring-downton-abbey/#commentsMon, 22 Dec 2014 19:46:49 +0000http://www.goerieblogs.com/biz-buzz/?p=2923Fans of the PBS hit “Downton Abbey” are likely looking forward to the return of the British period drama on Jan. 4.

But experts at Erie-based Erie Insurance have apparently been looking at the series from a different perspective — pondering just what it would cost to insure that massive estate that’s home of the fictional Crawley family.

The home, which includes about 300 rooms and 30 bathrooms has been valued by Movoto Real Estate at $400 million.

So what would it cost to insure that much house, complete with many works of rare and valuable art, set on 1,100 acres of manicured property?

About $10 million, according to Erie Insurance.

“While the sheer size of the house drives up the value, what really increases it is the quality of the materials in it,” said Terry McConnell, vice president of personal lines underwriting at Erie Insurance. . “Older homes typically have lots of marble, granite and exotic woods. They also require specialized craftsmanship that most contemporary contractors are not able to do.”

The General Electric Co., parent company of GE Transportation, which employs more than 4,000 people in Erie County, will take on most of the assets and liabilities of Alstom SA when a $15 billion deal to buy the French company’s power division closes sometime in 2015.

What GE won’t take on is the company’s $772 million bribery penalty payable to the U.S. Justice Department.

According to the Associated Press, “Federal prosecutors said Alstom SA funneled tens of millions of dollars in bribes, often through middlemen with code names, for help in obtaining more than $4 billion in projects in countries including Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the Bahamas.”

The fine is the largest ever levied by the U.S. government on a charge of foreign bribery.

According to a Reuters report, Alstom investors were unsettled Friday when they learned the company would not be able to transfer any of historic fine to Connecticut-based GE.